“Back in 2008, New Mexico was a national leader in addressing groundwater contamination from oil and gas waste pits, bringing together industry, regulators and public interest groups to get the protective Pit Rule adopted,” says Eric Jantz, Staff Attorney with the NMELC. “Now, industry is arguing that the Pit Rule is responsible for raising the costs of drilling so much that business is moving out of state. Yet, since the rule was adopted, drilling rig counts have gone up and there has been no groundwater contamination from waste pits.“
Since the Pit Rule was adopted, the Oil and Gas Association and Independent Petroleum Producers have appealed it. Governor Susana Martinez’s administration has also been very public about reversing many of the environmental protective rules passed under Bill Richardson’s administration – specifically targeting the Pit Rule. Governor Martinez appoints two of the three members of the Commission.
“Commissioner Robert Balch has publicly demonstrated bias in favor of radically amending the Pit Rule,” says Jantz. “Chair Bailey had several meetings with oil and gas industry executives in the months prior to the submission of the current petition. If the Commission is going to hear the petitions to substantively weaken the Pit Rule’s public health protections, at least the people making the decisions should be impartial.”
“Before the Pit Rule was adopted, the State documented nearly 400 cases of groundwater contamination by leaking oil and gas waste pits,” says Gwen Lachelt, Founder & Director of OGAP. “Since it was adopted, the Pit Rule has protected New Mexico’s working ranches, farms, neighborhoods and public lands from oil and gas drilling and fracking wastes. The Pit Rule provides the oil and gas industry with reasonable safeguards to follow and helps prevent contamination that could leave the industry or taxpayers with hefty clean-up costs.”
WHAT: Oil Conservation Commission Public Hearing on Petition to Amend New Mexico’s oil and gas Pit Rule
WHEN: May 14 – 18, 2012
The hearing will begin each day at 9 am; public comment periods will take place around lunchtime and dinnertime.
WHERE: Porter Hall at the Wendell Chino Building, 1220 South Saint Francis Drive in Santa Fe
INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact:
Juana Colón, Communications and Public Education
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
jcolon@nmelc.org
505-989-9022, ext. 30
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]]>“Our communities have repeatedly expressed that we do not want this ISL mining or processing in Church Rock and Crownpoint,” says Larry J. King, ENDAUM Board Member and one of the more than 15,000 Navajo people who would be impacted by the mine. “We have expressed this through resolutions, litigation, even a Navajo Nation law. Because of a legal technicality, even though the mine site is in a Navajo community and surrounded by tribal land, the Navajo Nation law does not protect us from the proposed mine. That’s why it’s crucial that EPA step in and revoke the aquifer exemption before risking any more harm to our water, our people, our culture and our future.“
King, a member of the Navajo Nation and a former miner who has suffered adverse health effects because of his former occupation, started a fast-growing campaign on Change.org that calls on the EPA to protect drinking water in the Navajo community of Church Rock, NM.
“There is a long legacy and many unhealed sores from uranium mining on Navajo land by companies that look to make a quick profit. I’m sick of watching my community suffer from the poisons of uranium mining,” adds King. “It’s been a very frustrating and long road, but we won’t back down. We hope the Change.org petition will help inform Americans about this issue and hope to get more than 10,000 signatures to convince the EPA to do the right thing.”
INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES ARE AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST
Contact:
Juana Colón, Communications and Public Education
New Mexico Environmental Law Center
jcolon@nmelc.org
505-989-9022, ext. 30
ENDAUM is a Diné-led, grassroots non-profit organization governed by a Board of Directors who live in Diné communities in northwestern New Mexico affected by uranium mining. ENDAUM’s mission is to protect the purity of the water, air, lands and community health in areas impacted by Uranium activities for the present and future generations. ENDAUM works to empower our communities through education and sustainability to protect and respect the foundations of our Diné Way of Life.
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